Object building method for self configuring computer network

Abstract

A computer system including a first processor and a plurality of removable interface circuits is operated by storing hardware descriptors for each interface circuit, each hardware descriptor including a name and an attribute of each component of the interface. Software templates describing each data structure and pointers to code to be executed to build software objects corresponding to each component contained on any interface board in the system are stored, which code is executed to building such software objects. The hardware descriptors are utilized to obtain lists of components of each interface from a data base, using names of such components to obtain software templates corresponding to the named component and pointing to software that utilizes the software template to build the software object representing a function that can be performed by the component, assigns a name to that software object and entering the name and corresponding software object into the data base.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method of operating a computer system including a first processor and a plurality of removable interface circuits, said method comprising the steps of: (a) storing in a data base accessible by the first processor a plurality of hardware descriptors each of which includes a separate identifier for each of said interface circuits that can be plugged into said computer system, and also storing in said data base a plurality of component lists each corresponding to a separate one of said plurality of interface circuits and each including a name and at least one attribute of each component of that interface circuit, and also storing in said data base a plurality of software templates each including descriptions of data structures for containing data descriptive of various ones of said components, data to be entered into said data structures, names of code elements to be included in a siftware object to be built representing a particular one of said interface circuits, and pointers to code to be executed to build such software objects;   (b) obtaining a first one of said hardware descriptors, corresponding to a first one of said interface circuits, from said date base;   (c) using said first hardware descriptor to obtain from said data base a first one of said lists of components of said first interface circuit;   (d) using the name of a first one of the components of said first component list to obtain from said data base a first one of said software templates corresponding to a first one of the components of said first interface circuit;   (e) using said first software template to build a first software object that represents at least one function that can be performed by said first component;   (f) assigning a first object name to said first software object and entering said first object name and said first software object into said data base; and   (g) using said first object name, during execution of a user process, to obtain said first software object from said data base and operating upon said first software object to measure a signal produced by said first component or to apply a signal to a terminal of said first component.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of said hardware descriptors includes a board name for a respective one of said interface circuits. 
     
     
       3. The method of claim 2 including repeating steps (d) and (e) for all components of said first component lists. 
     
     
       4. The method of claim 3 including repeating steps (b) through (e) for all of said hardware descriptors corresponding to interface circuits that presently are plugged into said computer system. 
     
     
       5. The method of claim 4 wherein each of said interface circuits stores within that interface circuit its own hardware descriptor or information representative thereof, and wherein step (a) includes causing said first processor to obtain said hardware descriptors from the plurality of interface circuits by reading said hardware descriptors or information representative of them from said respective interface circuits and then storing those hardware descriptors in said data base.